President Donald Trump previously dismissed the daily intelligence briefings offered him, but once in the White House Trump quickly changed his mind.
"I don't have to be told — you know, I'm like, a smart person — I don't have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years," the then-president elect said on Fox News in December. "It could be eight years — but eight years. I don't need that. But I do say, 'If something should change, let us know.'"
For about 50 years, each president has received a daily intel briefing, often called the PDB. Some, like George W. Bush, prefer to hear it in person. Others, like Barack Obama or Richard Nixon, read their briefings on their own.
Trump receives his in person, and although he missed five in his first two weeks as president, they're now scheduled for almost every day, including the days the U.S. launched attacks on targets in Syria and Afghanistan, according to The Daily Caller.
"I mean, there will be some very fluid situations," the president told Fox News host Chris Wallace. "I'll be there not every day, but more than that. But I don't need to be told, Chris, the same thing every day, every morning, same words, 'Sir, nothing has changed. Let's go over it again.' I don't need that."
In February, Trump said in an interview with Axios that he prefers short briefings.
"I like bullets or I like as little as possible. I don't need, you know, 200-page reports on something that can be handled on a page. That I can tell you."
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